Following Paths vs Leaving Trails

“Do not follow where the path leads, Rather go where there is no path, and leave a trail.” – David Perkins

I’ve not been able to get this quote out of my head since hearing it over the weekend. I shared it last night on Twitter and half a dozen people replied quickly that it’d impacted them quite a lot so I thought I’d share it again here on ProBlogger.

There’s a lot that could be said about it and how it applies to blogging successfully – but I think I’ll just let it sit with you and see what it says to you).

update Mark from Creativitity asks – “Name 10 blogs that leave trails. They don’t have to even be successful. They just have to be taking risks.”

I think that’d be a great exercise. What blogs do you think are living out the quote?

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Just when I’d gotten sick of every blog I was following, I found the ezines at Design for Mankind (http://designformankind.blogspot.com) and felt I’d come upon an idea that hadn’t already been recycled around the web a hundred times.

This is interesting because it is the mantra of every entrepreneur. I think it applies though to every aspect of life.

For example, people can blaze paths in their relationships with their family, friends, and colleagues by doing something different. It could be as simple as waking up and cooking your significant other or children breakfast in bed or inviting a coworker to lunch just because.

It’s funny that people raise the issue of “being in a rut.” I think that the reason people get in a rut is because they follow paths. Even today, you can still see the marks left by the wagons traveling across the prairie, even though 100+ years have gone by. Ruts exist because we follow the same path and we don’t change it up.

I recently implemented this idea in my relationship with my girlfriend and I can speak for the results.